November 1, 2024 • 30 mins
Hey friend! Welcome to the debut episode of Dinks on Tap!
We’re diving into how we discovered the pickleball community and why we instantly fell in love with the sport.
This game isn’t just a social sport—it’s a way to find joy in play, connect with new friends, and bring a little light-hearted fun back into our lives.
We may not be pros, but we’ve got plenty to chat about, from the hilarious ups and downs of playing pickleball to the instant connections you make with fellow players on and off the court. And yes, we’ll clink margaritas in every episode!
So, if you’re here for good times, great conversations, and all the feels pickleball brings, you’re in the right place.
Grab a drink, squeeze a lime, and come hang out with us as we dive into the pickleball life. Cheers to episode one! 🍸
— Casie & Lauren
Let’s keep the conversation going! Connect with us:
Instagram: @dinksontap
Facebook: @DinksonTap
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Casie Caldwell (00:04):
Welcome to Dinks on Tap, where the pickleball
meets the margarita
Lauren Vosbein (00:07):
or martini, because we enjoy a bit of both.
Casie Caldwell (00:10):
We're your hosts, Casie and Lauren,
Lauren Vosbein (00:12):
and each week we explore. It makes pickleball so
darn fun,
Casie Caldwell (00:15):
not to mention the community and the connection
that's built along with it.
Lauren Vosbein (00:22):
We're live Casie for Dinks on Tap episode One.
Cheers.
Casie Caldwell (00:27):
Cheers to our inaugural episode. Amazing. So
that sounds finally coming tolife here.
Lauren Vosbein (00:33):
Sweet sound sure is coming parts of your
Casie Caldwell (00:36):
living room. People have asked she did a studio.
Lauren Vosbein (00:40):
No, no, just a living room, a cozy place where
drinks are flowing. Got a greatbar, so I know it does have a
great bar. You're welcome. We'rejust gonna clink every episode.
Gang. We're so happy to be here.Listen, this is our first
episode. Welcome to Dinks onTap. We are happy to be here
(01:03):
talking about pickleball, ourfavorite new sport.
Casie Caldwell (01:08):
Yeah, I think it's important to mention why
we're doing this and who we are,who we aren't. Yeah, that's
true. What we are going to talkabout, what we aren't going to
talk about,
Lauren Vosbein (01:20):
we're not pros. We're not pro pickleballers.
Casie Caldwell (01:23):
We are not we are not PPA, ers, we are not ml
peers, nope, we are just normal.
Lauren Vosbein (01:29):
We respect those and envy those people
absolutely, that's for darnsure. Yeah, but we are just too
hopefully fun that's up forinterpretation, but fun people
that love this game. We love thenuances of the game. We love
looking under the hood at whatmakes this game so interesting,
(01:49):
so infectious, right? And sodarn fun. So we came together
and decided we're just gonnatalk about it with some
martinis, some margaritas, somemargaritas, martinis, whatever a
drink that starts with an M willdo. Let's do it. Anyone will do
so. I want to introduce my cohost, guys. This is Casie
(02:11):
Caldwell. She is a baller ontocourt, and she also happens to
be a baller marketing consultantoff the court, which is one of
my favorite things about her.She used to be a incredible
restauranteer. Don't go to arestaurant and not have an
opinion, because she'll ask youall the things. And I love the
(02:32):
nuances you know about food andwine and how it comes together.
It's like our other favoritehobby or their favorite thing,
eating and hanging out about theexperience, that's right. So I
love chatting with you. I loveplaying pickleball with you. She
is my pickleball partner incrime, my doubles partner, just
(02:55):
crushing life on and off thecourt. And it's a joy to be just
losing about wise Lauren together,
Casie Caldwell (03:02):
Lauren is, I would say, equally, if not more
impressive Lauren. I've lovedjust learning about your
background since I've known youfor the last couple years. I
guess is that you just haveawesome stories, and you've
lived all over you come from aEurope, yes, you have and just
(03:24):
super fun stories to share, butwith a background and
entertainment and hospitality,yep, and now as an executive
leadership coach, which issuper, super cool, and we'll
share More on this podcast abouthow that transfers to the
pickleball court, and also nowas an entrepreneur, working with
(03:47):
a lot of different businessideas and bringing those to
life. So I think we share thatin common, absolutely, but
really, really, just in awe ofyour endeavors, and it's cool,
yeah. And of course, my metLauren on the pickleball court
and kind of thrust into thiswhole pickleball experience by
accident, as maybe many of usare, but I want to actually
Unknown (04:10):
get into that case.
Casie Caldwell (04:11):
It's really it's really fun, but I remember
meeting you for the first timeon the pickleball court and sort
of getting pushed into it waslike, Hey, go play with Lauren.
It's like, Hey, hi. How are youdoing? And, yeah. And the next
thing I remember is you just hadthis wicked forehand. It was
like, get out of the way.
Lauren Vosbein (04:29):
Wicked, wicked.
Casie Caldwell (04:30):
Get out of the way people. If you hit to
Lauren's forehand, you're introuble. That's all I have to
say.
Lauren Vosbein (04:36):
Watch out world. Well, Casie came in, strutting
onto the court, like, what's up?She this girl is like a ray of
sunshine. It's hilarious. Shewalks in just exuding a smile,
right? Like everything, a smilestands for Casie owns. So she's
like, Oh, I'm cool. Everythingcool? Yeah, you gotta cool. And
then she goes to start the ball.Let me tell you what this ball
(04:59):
goes sht. Shooting over the net.Like, was there a comet? What
just happened? Like, what's
Casie Caldwell (05:05):
it? Where you said comet? It's a comet. Comet
Lauren Vosbein (05:08):
like an asteroid, okay? Shoeing through
the ether that is space andtime. This chick freaking
bullets over the net with thisserve. It's impressive. And that
was the first thing I noticedabout seeing my
Casie Caldwell (05:27):
server, was noticing your forehand.
Lauren Vosbein (05:29):
Oh, you know what? We're really having a hard
time already. Here we go. Soyeah, we kind of love hanging
out and playing this game. Andthere is so much cool stuff
happening on off the court. Thissport is, as everybody might
have heard, is growing quiterapidly in popularity. And we
(05:51):
kind of want to talk about whatit is about this sport that is
so infectious. Why do peoplewant to play? What is it about
this game that is drawing acrowd well, and
Casie Caldwell (06:02):
I think that's what connected you and I as
partners, is that we were havingso much fun. And I just, I
really did not know anythingother than to just, hey, we're
going out and we're having fun.And of course, it's evolved
into, we are a part of one ofthe, well, I think it's the
largest pickleball league in thecountry, yeah, which is super
(06:26):
fun recreationally, but it'salso very competitive, which we
know very competitive. But whatI think connected us as friends
and partners is that we just hadso much fun playing it. I mean,
I just remember, you know, I'dsee a lot of doubles partners
talking about their strategy andwhat they were gonna do for the
next point. And I'm like, hey,if we win this point, we can go
(06:48):
have margaritas, right?
Lauren Vosbein (06:50):
We were talking about other people like, yeah,
drinks. That girl skirts, realcute. Did you see the guy who
pulled up in this cool Bronco?Like we were talking about just
nonsense, nonsensical,
Casie Caldwell (07:04):
yeah, not necessarily pickleball strategy.
Now we have evolved a hair. It'sjust a little but initially I
thought that was so hilarious,is that we were just having a
good time out there, and whichwas great, because, you know,
walking into that whole thing, Ireally did not know a thing
about what I was doing.
Lauren Vosbein (07:22):
I want you to tell a listener about that
story, just a little nuance
Casie Caldwell (07:27):
into your just a little bit about my pickleball
journey. I had a little bitexperience playing prior to
meeting you and the team that weplay on together, but it was
very little, maybe six months orso of playing recreational
pickleball, and a lot of it hadto do with just playing with my
parents, and they were playing acouple times a week at their
(07:49):
church, so it was a little bitof that, and then occasionally
getting invited to play atchicken and pickle. But it was
still, it was not, I mean, Ididn't really understand the
scoring. It wasn't sure seriousin any way, super fun, super
recreational, super easy, supereasy. So I always say that
(08:10):
pickleball changed my life,because in November of 2022 I
was laid off from my job, andthis would you know, I
accumulated almost a 20 yearcareer in the restaurant
business, and here I was just alittle bit lost about what I was
going to do next. And naturally,I was thinking, Okay, I'm going
to go back and do something inrestaurants, because that's all
I know in hospitality andwhatnot, sure. And I was
(08:33):
dissuaded, because it was clearto me all of a sudden that I
needed to do somethingdifferent, that I was not
present. I was really sort ofknee deep in a lot of stress.
And I had been pretty muchworking for myself for 20 years,
but for that three and a halfyear period or so, I'd gone back
(08:56):
to corporate, and it just was,it was everything that a lot of
people know that corporate canbe right. I was drowning, and of
course, a lot of it was in themiddle of COVID, and we were
just doing everything we couldto keep our head above water. So
in the midst of this layoff andtrying to figure out what I was
doing next, I met you and ourPickleball team. It was just
(09:18):
really magical to tell the truthand meeting you guys just helped
me realize that, oh my gosh, Ihave missed out on this fun and
this joy that this game brings.And so next thing I knew, I
found myself sort of creating myworld around how can I continue
(09:39):
playing pickleball. Yeah, fourto five days a week,
Lauren Vosbein (09:43):
it sounds like you were kind of in a spot where
it was a gray cloud, a CharlieBrown kind of season, maybe, if
I may be so bold, and you founda source of bright light and joy
to counterbalance it a littlebit. No. Yeah,
Casie Caldwell (10:00):
absolutely, 100% and I think it's one of those
things that you don't even knowthat you're experiencing until
you get out of it, right? TheDark Cloud piece, yeah. And then
when you're out of it, yourealize, I mean, just a light
bulb goes off. I'm never goingback to that, of course. And
again, it's not any shade aboutthe restaurant business or the
(10:24):
but anybody that's in thatbusiness knows it never shuts
off, especially when you're anowner operator, you have to work
really, really, really hard tofind balance, and it was
something I wasn't doing a goodjob of, and so I quickly
realized I gotta do somethingdifferent. Sure.
Lauren Vosbein (10:42):
So what was it about pickleball in particular
that helped you through that? Orwhat was it specifically that
brought the joy? Like, why isthis for bringing joy to people?
Casie Caldwell (10:54):
There's something about the camaraderie
on the court, and there issomething about maybe it's hard
to put a finger on, but abouthow when you meet people in this
community, there is such aopenness and a welcoming vibe,
yes, where nobody cares aboutwhat you've done, your
(11:18):
socioeconomic status, yourpolitical beliefs, who you love,
any of it, it hardly ever evencomes up. It's like everybody
embraces each other, right wherethey're at, and just has the
best time together. And I camefrom a tennis background and
never really experiencedanything like that, and so I
think there's something aboutjust an openness and welcoming
(11:41):
nature of the sport that it'sjust you're automatically just,
you're in, just regardless ofyour skill level or any of that.
And so it was just a joy to bewelcomed in so quickly. And
then, of course, we've talkedabout, you know, when you're
asked to come play and be a partof something so special, then
(12:04):
that makes you feel good, right?
Lauren Vosbein (12:05):
It does. It's an open arms community. It really
is in the sense of people arevery happy to meet you so they
can play, right? It's all abouthow do I wants to play? Keep
playing this game, right? Andsay, the more you meet, right?
Casie Caldwell (12:23):
You and I have talked about how this, and we
hope this is what this podcastbrings forward, and people can
relate to, is that we have allagain, just what I've
experienced. Enjoy the sport somuch, because it really sort of
brings this playful aspect ofour nature that we've all sort
(12:46):
of been missing out on, yes andthat we all crave,
Lauren Vosbein (12:51):
right? It's like just to go here a second, and I
want to circle back to yourpersonal story in a moment, but
to expound upon your point, it'sinteresting, because as kids, we
play all the time, quote,unquote, we go play whatever
that means, right? And insports, which is the great
leveler of everything, it's thegreat equalizer. People can come
(13:14):
from all different walks of lifeand be equal on a court, on a
field, in a gym. It just is thegreat equalizer, period, and
it's this notion ofrediscovering a version of
yourself, sort of the inner kid,right? Because, for the most
part, a lot of sports cater toyounger people because of their
(13:38):
energetic states of being andtheir ability to foster their
muscles and their skills at anearly age and compete, right?
And we always think that as weage, that those age out of that.
We age out of it. Those sportsare no longer really available
to us in a competitive nature,and so over time, we lose all
(14:00):
the ancillary benefits of comingtogether through sport, the
camaraderie, the conditioning,the competition, just the
overall self improvement aspect,all these little tangibles that
fade when we no longer have thatas an area to focus and or for
(14:20):
those you know, some peopledon't do sports at all, but
again, it's a way to play,especially in a team
environment.
Casie Caldwell (14:27):
Yeah, you get to play again, and it brings you
back to that child in all of us,right? And I've heard this
before, but it's the only sport,or one of the only sports, that
you can actually inject yourselfinto and get better at at our
age.
Lauren Vosbein (14:43):
So yeah, to kind of close that loop, Pickleball
is one of those sports that youcan play that is definitely a
combination of what tennis andping pong, ping pong, badminton,
all of those paddle sports whereyou as an older person. Meaning
somebody who's, you know, 35 andolder, who might not be as agile
(15:04):
or as energetic as they used tobe, can still be competitive,
can still pick it up likeanybody. Can pick up this sport
and Excel to a certain extent.Well, that's how it started.
That's how it starts. Right foreveryone,
Casie Caldwell (15:20):
right started most people that older
generation that found that exactsame thing, where they could get
out and regardless of theirskill level, they could still
play this game. And now, ofcourse, it's evolving to the
younger generation, youngergeneration, but it absolutely
started. But
Lauren Vosbein (15:36):
here's the interesting thing, as a, you
know, a 40 something, a 50something, a 60 something, even
a 70 something. I mean, listen,my parents are in their 80s guys
and like, they can do it same.It's they can get out and whack
a paddle and learn thetechniques and actually compete
in a way where they feel, youknow, feel alive. They're doing
(16:00):
it. You're
Casie Caldwell (16:00):
having social hours and
Lauren Vosbein (16:04):
physically exerting. You're socially
interacting. It is definitelyone of those sports that leans
towards team as opposed tosingles, right? It's more of a
double sport, and therefore youneed to get foursome to play. I
mean, 90% of the sport isdoubles, right, so you're you're
forced to be social. You'reforced to interact in a natural
(16:26):
way, right? Because it's justpart of the the Environment
Court
Casie Caldwell (16:29):
is smaller, and yes, you're absolutely right.
You're forced to talk and besocial. It'd be a little weird
if you went on the court apickleball court, and you're not
saying anything to youropponents or yeah to the
foursome that's on the court.So, yeah, you're forced to talk
and communicate and
Lauren Vosbein (16:45):
so you can manage and the surface area to
your point is smaller, so youcan kind of handle the physical
movement it necessitates tocover that surface area a little
bit better. So it's an easysport to pick up. It's an easy
sport to excel at, and it's anatural way to feel social. And
those reasons really add to whythis game has become really
(17:09):
popular. And those elements alsoadd to this idea of our youth
and the connection and the playand the again, all those
ancillary sort of elements thatwe touched on, right? The
conditioning, the teamwork, thepersonal growth, right, like all
(17:30):
those things, are sort ofavailable again. Yeah,
Casie Caldwell (17:32):
it is. And there's, yes, absolutely,
there's some nostalgia behind itaround our younger days. I mean,
for me, and maybe not everybodyplayed competitive sports. Of
course, there's a lot of peoplethat get into pickleball that
don't have a lick of abackground in competitive sports
at all, but for me personally,it has certainly brought back
(17:54):
that notion of just the fun andplayfulness that I had as a you
know, a teenager playingcompetitive tennis, and a lot of
it was Team Tennis. And so, youknow, you had a top six, and we
traveled together, and it wasthe guys and the girls, and we
took the bus and we drove acrosstown and we played another team.
(18:16):
And so that's why the leaguethat we play in, where we do, we
do a little bit of the samething. We have to travel far and
wide to meet up with our theother teams to play and but I
think what's different, andmaybe from that competitive team
sports as a kid, is that nowit's just fun. We're not playing
for state championship. I mean,we are playing maybe to move up
(18:39):
or down the ladder of ourleague, but really, it's just
bragging rights, and we'rehaving a good time. Yeah,
Lauren Vosbein (18:46):
that's really true. And really for me, it
circles back to why I got intothis game, right? I moved to
Dallas in 2022 new to the city,new to community, having to
build out friendships, having tosort of carve out a life in a
new place. And interestingly, mynext door neighbor at the time
was big into pickleball andinvites me to play a game with
(19:10):
she and two other gals. And Ihad never played pickleball
before. I had certainly beenathletic as a young girl, but
never when
Casie Caldwell (19:18):
you heard the name Pickleball for the first
time, that was that the firsttime you'd heard
Lauren Vosbein (19:21):
of it. I'd heard of it. I'd heard of it. I knew
it was a thing. I did not knowhow to play. I had heard that.
It was the hybrid baby of tennisand ping pong, and I had
actually played both of thosesports enough.
Casie Caldwell (19:33):
I can do this. I could pick up a paddles.
Lauren Vosbein (19:36):
Let's go. And I did pick it up fairly fast. I
gotta say, I'm proud of that.But, you know, these women were
pretty awesome, and they gave mea bit of a schooling initially,
after the first couple ofrounds, they thought, Okay,
you're in the deep end. Let'sgo. You get it, pick it up.
Let's Let's move. And I did. Isort of just stuck with them and
(19:56):
hung in there because you can,you can, if you. Have any kind
of background, you can pick itup fast. Yes, and if you don't
have a background, you can stillpick it up fast. But I remember
walking off that core, and theywere like, man, you did a good
job. And I was not good, but Iwas fixed, like I was so into
it, Casie, I caught the bug.
Casie Caldwell (20:17):
What do you think it is about? I've heard
other people say this, what doyou think it is about this sport
that gets you almost immediatelyaddicted?
Lauren Vosbein (20:26):
I think it's because you can see your own
potential very fast. You can seeit very, very fast. And you want
to add to the environment. Youwant to add your own little
stamp into the already level ofplay and level of fun. And so
there's this inherent desire toget better so that you can
(20:50):
continue to play and again, youcan see very quickly, the
potential of your own game. It'sinteresting like that, because I
don't think that foresight is soavailable in all sports,
certainly not at later stages ofone's life. So, yeah, it's
Casie Caldwell (21:07):
not like you go out and see a basketball game or
a volleyball game and go, Oh, Icould do that and get better.
Lauren Vosbein (21:13):
right. I mean, I don't know if anyone's actually
That's
shot hoops 4050, or 60 or 70,but something that you go do
that. Let me tell you, I've doneit. It's not as easy as it was
at 20 or 30, sure, like it'sactually quite exhausting. But
for some reason, Pickleball isnot so exhausting. It's quite
adaptable. It's quite easy. Infact, if I just learn this, I
(21:35):
happen to get that right overthat. Now, I think
Casie Caldwell (21:37):
there's a little bit of a FOMO aspect, or a cult
aspect of it like it was notthis way for me when I started,
because there weren't as manypeople around me that I knew
that were playing right. But I'mone of those people. When I fall
in love with something, I willspread it like I'm some kind of
tele Vela preacher on yourspokesperson religious
(22:00):
television somewhere, because Iam addicted to it, and I want
everybody to know about it. Andso everybody I know now has
either played or is involved init, somehow it is just caught on
like wildfire. And so it's like,what is it that just people get
(22:20):
addicted. Well, immediately,think
Lauren Vosbein (22:22):
you're right, that there's curious, there's
healthy curiosity. For sure,someone says, I'm having so much
fun. Effectively, that's themessage. If it's not on the
nose, it's it's an underlyingvibe that they're giving off
when they talk about it. Sofirst off, that's the thing that
people are reacting to, andthat's the thing you and I think
are trying to really uncover andsort of keep at the forefront of
(22:45):
when we talk about this sport,right? Because for us, it is
really the lighthouse. Butthat's the first thing, I think,
people recognize that otherpeople are having so much fun,
and they want to have fun too.And on top of that, like I said
before, when they try and theygive it a shot, they can see
their own potential. It's like,Oh, love it, yeah, yeah, oh
(23:08):
yeah, okay, okay, you just hitit like that. Oh. And then I
can, oh, okay. It's just not ahard learning curve.
Casie Caldwell (23:15):
Yeah. There is a small barrier to entry. It's
something for everybody, allskill levels, all ages, all over
the place. So I do think you'reonto something there.
Lauren Vosbein (23:25):
It adds to the fun, the short learning curve,
right? Like, it's like, oh yeah,I can get there cool. I can play
cool. And that is exciting.That's energizing. Plus, I mean,
simultaneously, you are workingyour mind, your arms, your legs,
your core, your whole body isinvolved, and you're getting
(23:48):
that endorphin rush
Casie Caldwell (23:49):
well. And there was a study that just plenty,
I'm sure, that came out, aboutwhat it does for your mental
game, your mentality of justbeing out there in the hand eye
coordination, about how peoplethat are playing paddle sports
are living 10 years longer. Soit's pretty incredible. What,
physiologically,
Lauren Vosbein (24:06):
it's actually healthy for us as humans. So
Casie Caldwell (24:11):
what early. So
Lauren Vosbein (24:12):
we're gonna live a long time. We gonna live a
long time. We gonna be cheeringa long time.
Casie Caldwell (24:16):
Just means I'm gonna work longer.
Lauren Vosbein (24:20):
But truly, I think these are all elements
that are going into it, right?They're going into this factor.
And then the third thing we willtouch on, some more, and we've
touched on before, which is thiscommunity building element. You
know, this idea that the minuteyou realize your potential and
the desire blooms in you to wantto play more, you want to find
(24:41):
people to play with, and it's awhole lot of meeting new people,
building a pickleball Rolodex,tapping into that Rolodex,
constantly having texts and textchains and calls, and setting up
games and showing up to meetpeople, and all of a sudden.
You're 789, pm at night, andyou're playing after work, and
(25:04):
the lights are on, you'refeeling like a kid again, or
678, in the morning, and thesun's just all
Casie Caldwell (25:10):
of a sudden, you're like, oh my gosh, I just
played pickleball. Yeah, you're
Lauren Vosbein (25:13):
starting your day off with a game. And there's
a connectedness
Casie Caldwell (25:16):
that I don't think a lot of people find easy
later in life, especially, I
Lauren Vosbein (25:24):
mean, I know the sport socially, socially, yeah,
Casie Caldwell (25:26):
so a lot of people talk about how, and I
think it's true, like harder tomake friends later in life,
because everybody's Twitter,they got their people, right.
But pickleball opens that sowide, open wide. And so that's
pretty special, because it ishard. It's like people getting
their clicks. But pickleballsort of breaks those barriers,
(25:46):
or at least
Lauren Vosbein (25:47):
it does, because you're right. We talked about
sports being the greatneutralizer. It's a sport. So
all of a sudden you're meetingpeople from all walks of life.
They're just showing up to playthis game, right, to play this
sport. And how you show up onthe court might be very
different or similar to how youshow up off the court, but you
get that equalizing playingfield Absolutely.
Casie Caldwell (26:10):
And I think that's true to or I think you,
you just touched on somethingthat I think is important to
talk about, like, what do wewant to accomplish with this
podcast and why? Why you shouldlisten. Listener,
Lauren Vosbein (26:22):
are you there? Audience, of wonder if you're
Casie Caldwell (26:24):
still listening. We're really excited.
Lauren Vosbein (26:26):
My mom's listening. It's just the one.
Casie Caldwell (26:28):
My mom will be listening. Okay, there's two.
There's two. Yeah, we got two.Maybe Dad, your dad will listen.
Yeah, there's four.
Lauren Vosbein (26:38):
No. But to come back at it, the notion that why
we want to talk about this gameis because so much of life ends
up on the court. It doesn'tactually separate too much, and
we've met some amazingcharacters who have incredible
lives off the court that we getexposure to because of
(27:02):
pickleball. Pickleball hasbecome a bit of a conduit for
building community and buildingfriendships and fostering
connection in ways that weresurprising, that were incredibly
profound. Casie and I are on ateam that plays in a league here
(27:22):
in Dallas, Texas, TCD
Casie Caldwell (27:25):
tennis competitors of Dallas. Soon to
be there's a division comingcalled PCD pickleball
competitors of Dallas.
Lauren Vosbein (27:32):
So we actually have this camaraderie that's
built with a team and a sport,and we've just befriended some
incredible players, someincredible humans, and so all of
those things kind of add to whywe find it important and fun and
entertaining, even to talk aboutthis game and to talk about the
(27:55):
stuff that really drives itright the gas in the tank well,
and
Casie Caldwell (27:59):
I think The nuances that come out on the
court as recreational players.Yeah. I mean, we are not going
to talk so much about tips andtricks and equipment and who's
governing the sport. There's alot of content out there about
that, and it's good content, andso we're not trying to compete
with that. We want to talk aboutwhat you said earlier, what's
(28:20):
under the hood and what makes usall sort of tick on and off the
court when it comes to thesport, yeah,
Lauren Vosbein (28:28):
the sort of juice to the coconut, if you
will, the, you know, thepickleball walk of shame, the
fifth man on the court, the
Casie Caldwell (28:38):
idiosyncrasies that show up. Sometimes it's
like, what you know, do we findthat, even as recreational
players, what are we bringingthat day? Yes, like, what's
that? You talk a lot aboutenergy that's happening when
you're in a competitive match,and how you shake some of the
mental blocks that we have whenwe're in a competitive match. So
(28:59):
how you do that, I think isreally interesting as rec
players, because it shows upeven though we're not pros,
right? It's there still, yeah,
Lauren Vosbein (29:09):
and at the end of the day, guys, it's how to
maintain your fun, right? How toinject play into your lives, how
to rediscover play in yourlives, how this
Casie Caldwell (29:21):
of us. That's why we're doing this. It's a fun
first mentality,
Lauren Vosbein (29:24):
how this sport can be a conduit for that, if
you let it right. So keepingthat as our sort of North Star
while we talk about this gameand all the fun life that sort
of operates on and off thecourt. So prepare. We will be
drinking as we talk. We'll beclinking. You might hear a few
(29:47):
curse words here and there. Youmight hear some sorry mom. You
might hear the UPS, downs,lefts, rights. There's no sort
of politically correct on this.Pod, we are just here to talk
about the raw life behind thesport, and we hope you'll be
along for the ride. So whereveryou are, squeeze a lime, pop in
(30:10):
an olive and show up, and let'sjust do some clinking and
Dinkin.
Casie Caldwell (30:16):
I think that's a wrap for our first episode of
Dinks on Tap.
Lauren Vosbein (30:19):
Thanks for joining guys. Cheers. Y'all hope
to see you soon. Cheers, andthat's a wrap on this episode of
Dinks on Tap.
Casie Caldwell (30:28):
Thanks for listening, and if you like the
pod, leave us a review and shareit with your favorite dinking
buddy.
Lauren Vosbein (30:33):
After all, Pickleball is more fun with
friends, both on and off thecourt.
Welcome to Dinks on Tap, where the pickleball
meets the margarita
Lauren Vosbein (00:07):
or martini, because we enjoy a bit of both.
Casie Caldwell (00:10):
We're your hosts, Casie and Lauren,
Lauren Vosbein (00:12):
and each week we explore. It makes pickleball so
darn fun,
Casie Caldwell (00:15):
not to mention the community and the connection
that's built along with it.
Lauren Vosbein (00:22):
We're live Casie for Dinks on Tap episode One.
Cheers.
Casie Caldwell (00:27):
Cheers to our inaugural episode. Amazing. So
that sounds finally coming tolife here.
Lauren Vosbein (00:33):
Sweet sound sure is coming parts of your
Casie Caldwell (00:36):
living room. People have asked she did a studio.
Lauren Vosbein (00:40):
No, no, just a living room, a cozy place where
drinks are flowing. Got a greatbar, so I know it does have a
great bar. You're welcome. We'rejust gonna clink every episode.
Gang. We're so happy to be here.Listen, this is our first
episode. Welcome to Dinks onTap. We are happy to be here
(01:03):
talking about pickleball, ourfavorite new sport.
Casie Caldwell (01:08):
Yeah, I think it's important to mention why
we're doing this and who we are,who we aren't. Yeah, that's
true. What we are going to talkabout, what we aren't going to
talk about,
Lauren Vosbein (01:20):
we're not pros. We're not pro pickleballers.
Casie Caldwell (01:23):
We are not we are not PPA, ers, we are not ml
peers, nope, we are just normal.
Lauren Vosbein (01:29):
We respect those and envy those people
absolutely, that's for darnsure. Yeah, but we are just too
hopefully fun that's up forinterpretation, but fun people
that love this game. We love thenuances of the game. We love
looking under the hood at whatmakes this game so interesting,
(01:49):
so infectious, right? And sodarn fun. So we came together
and decided we're just gonnatalk about it with some
martinis, some margaritas, somemargaritas, martinis, whatever a
drink that starts with an M willdo. Let's do it. Anyone will do
so. I want to introduce my cohost, guys. This is Casie
(02:11):
Caldwell. She is a baller ontocourt, and she also happens to
be a baller marketing consultantoff the court, which is one of
my favorite things about her.She used to be a incredible
restauranteer. Don't go to arestaurant and not have an
opinion, because she'll ask youall the things. And I love the
(02:32):
nuances you know about food andwine and how it comes together.
It's like our other favoritehobby or their favorite thing,
eating and hanging out about theexperience, that's right. So I
love chatting with you. I loveplaying pickleball with you. She
is my pickleball partner incrime, my doubles partner, just
(02:55):
crushing life on and off thecourt. And it's a joy to be just
losing about wise Lauren together,
Casie Caldwell (03:02):
Lauren is, I would say, equally, if not more
impressive Lauren. I've lovedjust learning about your
background since I've known youfor the last couple years. I
guess is that you just haveawesome stories, and you've
lived all over you come from aEurope, yes, you have and just
(03:24):
super fun stories to share, butwith a background and
entertainment and hospitality,yep, and now as an executive
leadership coach, which issuper, super cool, and we'll
share More on this podcast abouthow that transfers to the
pickleball court, and also nowas an entrepreneur, working with
(03:47):
a lot of different businessideas and bringing those to
life. So I think we share thatin common, absolutely, but
really, really, just in awe ofyour endeavors, and it's cool,
yeah. And of course, my metLauren on the pickleball court
and kind of thrust into thiswhole pickleball experience by
accident, as maybe many of usare, but I want to actually
Unknown (04:10):
get into that case.
Casie Caldwell (04:11):
It's really it's really fun, but I remember
meeting you for the first timeon the pickleball court and sort
of getting pushed into it waslike, Hey, go play with Lauren.
It's like, Hey, hi. How are youdoing? And, yeah. And the next
thing I remember is you just hadthis wicked forehand. It was
like, get out of the way.
Lauren Vosbein (04:29):
Wicked, wicked.
Casie Caldwell (04:30):
Get out of the way people. If you hit to
Lauren's forehand, you're introuble. That's all I have to
say.
Lauren Vosbein (04:36):
Watch out world. Well, Casie came in, strutting
onto the court, like, what's up?She this girl is like a ray of
sunshine. It's hilarious. Shewalks in just exuding a smile,
right? Like everything, a smilestands for Casie owns. So she's
like, Oh, I'm cool. Everythingcool? Yeah, you gotta cool. And
then she goes to start the ball.Let me tell you what this ball
(04:59):
goes sht. Shooting over the net.Like, was there a comet? What
just happened? Like, what's
Casie Caldwell (05:05):
it? Where you said comet? It's a comet. Comet
Lauren Vosbein (05:08):
like an asteroid, okay? Shoeing through
the ether that is space andtime. This chick freaking
bullets over the net with thisserve. It's impressive. And that
was the first thing I noticedabout seeing my
Casie Caldwell (05:27):
server, was noticing your forehand.
Lauren Vosbein (05:29):
Oh, you know what? We're really having a hard
time already. Here we go. Soyeah, we kind of love hanging
out and playing this game. Andthere is so much cool stuff
happening on off the court. Thissport is, as everybody might
have heard, is growing quiterapidly in popularity. And we
(05:51):
kind of want to talk about whatit is about this sport that is
so infectious. Why do peoplewant to play? What is it about
this game that is drawing acrowd well, and
Casie Caldwell (06:02):
I think that's what connected you and I as
partners, is that we were havingso much fun. And I just, I
really did not know anythingother than to just, hey, we're
going out and we're having fun.And of course, it's evolved
into, we are a part of one ofthe, well, I think it's the
largest pickleball league in thecountry, yeah, which is super
(06:26):
fun recreationally, but it'salso very competitive, which we
know very competitive. But whatI think connected us as friends
and partners is that we just hadso much fun playing it. I mean,
I just remember, you know, I'dsee a lot of doubles partners
talking about their strategy andwhat they were gonna do for the
next point. And I'm like, hey,if we win this point, we can go
(06:48):
have margaritas, right?
Lauren Vosbein (06:50):
We were talking about other people like, yeah,
drinks. That girl skirts, realcute. Did you see the guy who
pulled up in this cool Bronco?Like we were talking about just
nonsense, nonsensical,
Casie Caldwell (07:04):
yeah, not necessarily pickleball strategy.
Now we have evolved a hair. It'sjust a little but initially I
thought that was so hilarious,is that we were just having a
good time out there, and whichwas great, because, you know,
walking into that whole thing, Ireally did not know a thing
about what I was doing.
Lauren Vosbein (07:22):
I want you to tell a listener about that
story, just a little nuance
Casie Caldwell (07:27):
into your just a little bit about my pickleball
journey. I had a little bitexperience playing prior to
meeting you and the team that weplay on together, but it was
very little, maybe six months orso of playing recreational
pickleball, and a lot of it hadto do with just playing with my
parents, and they were playing acouple times a week at their
(07:49):
church, so it was a little bitof that, and then occasionally
getting invited to play atchicken and pickle. But it was
still, it was not, I mean, Ididn't really understand the
scoring. It wasn't sure seriousin any way, super fun, super
recreational, super easy, supereasy. So I always say that
(08:10):
pickleball changed my life,because in November of 2022 I
was laid off from my job, andthis would you know, I
accumulated almost a 20 yearcareer in the restaurant
business, and here I was just alittle bit lost about what I was
going to do next. And naturally,I was thinking, Okay, I'm going
to go back and do something inrestaurants, because that's all
I know in hospitality andwhatnot, sure. And I was
(08:33):
dissuaded, because it was clearto me all of a sudden that I
needed to do somethingdifferent, that I was not
present. I was really sort ofknee deep in a lot of stress.
And I had been pretty muchworking for myself for 20 years,
but for that three and a halfyear period or so, I'd gone back
(08:56):
to corporate, and it just was,it was everything that a lot of
people know that corporate canbe right. I was drowning, and of
course, a lot of it was in themiddle of COVID, and we were
just doing everything we couldto keep our head above water. So
in the midst of this layoff andtrying to figure out what I was
doing next, I met you and ourPickleball team. It was just
(09:18):
really magical to tell the truthand meeting you guys just helped
me realize that, oh my gosh, Ihave missed out on this fun and
this joy that this game brings.And so next thing I knew, I
found myself sort of creating myworld around how can I continue
(09:39):
playing pickleball. Yeah, fourto five days a week,
Lauren Vosbein (09:43):
it sounds like you were kind of in a spot where
it was a gray cloud, a CharlieBrown kind of season, maybe, if
I may be so bold, and you founda source of bright light and joy
to counterbalance it a littlebit. No. Yeah,
Casie Caldwell (10:00):
absolutely, 100% and I think it's one of those
things that you don't even knowthat you're experiencing until
you get out of it, right? TheDark Cloud piece, yeah. And then
when you're out of it, yourealize, I mean, just a light
bulb goes off. I'm never goingback to that, of course. And
again, it's not any shade aboutthe restaurant business or the
(10:24):
but anybody that's in thatbusiness knows it never shuts
off, especially when you're anowner operator, you have to work
really, really, really hard tofind balance, and it was
something I wasn't doing a goodjob of, and so I quickly
realized I gotta do somethingdifferent. Sure.
Lauren Vosbein (10:42):
So what was it about pickleball in particular
that helped you through that? Orwhat was it specifically that
brought the joy? Like, why isthis for bringing joy to people?
Casie Caldwell (10:54):
There's something about the camaraderie
on the court, and there issomething about maybe it's hard
to put a finger on, but abouthow when you meet people in this
community, there is such aopenness and a welcoming vibe,
yes, where nobody cares aboutwhat you've done, your
(11:18):
socioeconomic status, yourpolitical beliefs, who you love,
any of it, it hardly ever evencomes up. It's like everybody
embraces each other, right wherethey're at, and just has the
best time together. And I camefrom a tennis background and
never really experiencedanything like that, and so I
think there's something aboutjust an openness and welcoming
(11:41):
nature of the sport that it'sjust you're automatically just,
you're in, just regardless ofyour skill level or any of that.
And so it was just a joy to bewelcomed in so quickly. And
then, of course, we've talkedabout, you know, when you're
asked to come play and be a partof something so special, then
(12:04):
that makes you feel good, right?
Lauren Vosbein (12:05):
It does. It's an open arms community. It really
is in the sense of people arevery happy to meet you so they
can play, right? It's all abouthow do I wants to play? Keep
playing this game, right? Andsay, the more you meet, right?
Casie Caldwell (12:23):
You and I have talked about how this, and we
hope this is what this podcastbrings forward, and people can
relate to, is that we have allagain, just what I've
experienced. Enjoy the sport somuch, because it really sort of
brings this playful aspect ofour nature that we've all sort
(12:46):
of been missing out on, yes andthat we all crave,
Lauren Vosbein (12:51):
right? It's like just to go here a second, and I
want to circle back to yourpersonal story in a moment, but
to expound upon your point, it'sinteresting, because as kids, we
play all the time, quote,unquote, we go play whatever
that means, right? And insports, which is the great
leveler of everything, it's thegreat equalizer. People can come
(13:14):
from all different walks of lifeand be equal on a court, on a
field, in a gym. It just is thegreat equalizer, period, and
it's this notion ofrediscovering a version of
yourself, sort of the inner kid,right? Because, for the most
part, a lot of sports cater toyounger people because of their
(13:38):
energetic states of being andtheir ability to foster their
muscles and their skills at anearly age and compete, right?
And we always think that as weage, that those age out of that.
We age out of it. Those sportsare no longer really available
to us in a competitive nature,and so over time, we lose all
(14:00):
the ancillary benefits of comingtogether through sport, the
camaraderie, the conditioning,the competition, just the
overall self improvement aspect,all these little tangibles that
fade when we no longer have thatas an area to focus and or for
(14:20):
those you know, some peopledon't do sports at all, but
again, it's a way to play,especially in a team
environment.
Casie Caldwell (14:27):
Yeah, you get to play again, and it brings you
back to that child in all of us,right? And I've heard this
before, but it's the only sport,or one of the only sports, that
you can actually inject yourselfinto and get better at at our
age.
Lauren Vosbein (14:43):
So yeah, to kind of close that loop, Pickleball
is one of those sports that youcan play that is definitely a
combination of what tennis andping pong, ping pong, badminton,
all of those paddle sports whereyou as an older person. Meaning
somebody who's, you know, 35 andolder, who might not be as agile
(15:04):
or as energetic as they used tobe, can still be competitive,
can still pick it up likeanybody. Can pick up this sport
and Excel to a certain extent.Well, that's how it started.
That's how it starts. Right foreveryone,
Casie Caldwell (15:20):
right started most people that older
generation that found that exactsame thing, where they could get
out and regardless of theirskill level, they could still
play this game. And now, ofcourse, it's evolving to the
younger generation, youngergeneration, but it absolutely
started. But
Lauren Vosbein (15:36):
here's the interesting thing, as a, you
know, a 40 something, a 50something, a 60 something, even
a 70 something. I mean, listen,my parents are in their 80s guys
and like, they can do it same.It's they can get out and whack
a paddle and learn thetechniques and actually compete
in a way where they feel, youknow, feel alive. They're doing
(16:00):
it. You're
Casie Caldwell (16:00):
having social hours and
Lauren Vosbein (16:04):
physically exerting. You're socially
interacting. It is definitelyone of those sports that leans
towards team as opposed tosingles, right? It's more of a
double sport, and therefore youneed to get foursome to play. I
mean, 90% of the sport isdoubles, right, so you're you're
forced to be social. You'reforced to interact in a natural
(16:26):
way, right? Because it's justpart of the the Environment
Court
Casie Caldwell (16:29):
is smaller, and yes, you're absolutely right.
You're forced to talk and besocial. It'd be a little weird
if you went on the court apickleball court, and you're not
saying anything to youropponents or yeah to the
foursome that's on the court.So, yeah, you're forced to talk
and communicate and
Lauren Vosbein (16:45):
so you can manage and the surface area to
your point is smaller, so youcan kind of handle the physical
movement it necessitates tocover that surface area a little
bit better. So it's an easysport to pick up. It's an easy
sport to excel at, and it's anatural way to feel social. And
those reasons really add to whythis game has become really
(17:09):
popular. And those elements alsoadd to this idea of our youth
and the connection and the playand the again, all those
ancillary sort of elements thatwe touched on, right? The
conditioning, the teamwork, thepersonal growth, right, like all
(17:30):
those things, are sort ofavailable again. Yeah,
Casie Caldwell (17:32):
it is. And there's, yes, absolutely,
there's some nostalgia behind itaround our younger days. I mean,
for me, and maybe not everybodyplayed competitive sports. Of
course, there's a lot of peoplethat get into pickleball that
don't have a lick of abackground in competitive sports
at all, but for me personally,it has certainly brought back
(17:54):
that notion of just the fun andplayfulness that I had as a you
know, a teenager playingcompetitive tennis, and a lot of
it was Team Tennis. And so, youknow, you had a top six, and we
traveled together, and it wasthe guys and the girls, and we
took the bus and we drove acrosstown and we played another team.
(18:16):
And so that's why the leaguethat we play in, where we do, we
do a little bit of the samething. We have to travel far and
wide to meet up with our theother teams to play and but I
think what's different, andmaybe from that competitive team
sports as a kid, is that nowit's just fun. We're not playing
for state championship. I mean,we are playing maybe to move up
(18:39):
or down the ladder of ourleague, but really, it's just
bragging rights, and we'rehaving a good time. Yeah,
Lauren Vosbein (18:46):
that's really true. And really for me, it
circles back to why I got intothis game, right? I moved to
Dallas in 2022 new to the city,new to community, having to
build out friendships, having tosort of carve out a life in a
new place. And interestingly, mynext door neighbor at the time
was big into pickleball andinvites me to play a game with
(19:10):
she and two other gals. And Ihad never played pickleball
before. I had certainly beenathletic as a young girl, but
never when
Casie Caldwell (19:18):
you heard the name Pickleball for the first
time, that was that the firsttime you'd heard
Lauren Vosbein (19:21):
of it. I'd heard of it. I'd heard of it. I knew
it was a thing. I did not knowhow to play. I had heard that.
It was the hybrid baby of tennisand ping pong, and I had
actually played both of thosesports enough.
Casie Caldwell (19:33):
I can do this. I could pick up a paddles.
Lauren Vosbein (19:36):
Let's go. And I did pick it up fairly fast. I
gotta say, I'm proud of that.But, you know, these women were
pretty awesome, and they gave mea bit of a schooling initially,
after the first couple ofrounds, they thought, Okay,
you're in the deep end. Let'sgo. You get it, pick it up.
Let's Let's move. And I did. Isort of just stuck with them and
(19:56):
hung in there because you can,you can, if you. Have any kind
of background, you can pick itup fast. Yes, and if you don't
have a background, you can stillpick it up fast. But I remember
walking off that core, and theywere like, man, you did a good
job. And I was not good, but Iwas fixed, like I was so into
it, Casie, I caught the bug.
Casie Caldwell (20:17):
What do you think it is about? I've heard
other people say this, what doyou think it is about this sport
that gets you almost immediatelyaddicted?
Lauren Vosbein (20:26):
I think it's because you can see your own
potential very fast. You can seeit very, very fast. And you want
to add to the environment. Youwant to add your own little
stamp into the already level ofplay and level of fun. And so
there's this inherent desire toget better so that you can
(20:50):
continue to play and again, youcan see very quickly, the
potential of your own game. It'sinteresting like that, because I
don't think that foresight is soavailable in all sports,
certainly not at later stages ofone's life. So, yeah, it's
Casie Caldwell (21:07):
not like you go out and see a basketball game or
a volleyball game and go, Oh, Icould do that and get better.
Lauren Vosbein (21:13):
right. I mean, I don't know if anyone's actually
That's
shot hoops 4050, or 60 or 70,but something that you go do
that. Let me tell you, I've doneit. It's not as easy as it was
at 20 or 30, sure, like it'sactually quite exhausting. But
for some reason, Pickleball isnot so exhausting. It's quite
adaptable. It's quite easy. Infact, if I just learn this, I
(21:35):
happen to get that right overthat. Now, I think
Casie Caldwell (21:37):
there's a little bit of a FOMO aspect, or a cult
aspect of it like it was notthis way for me when I started,
because there weren't as manypeople around me that I knew
that were playing right. But I'mone of those people. When I fall
in love with something, I willspread it like I'm some kind of
tele Vela preacher on yourspokesperson religious
(22:00):
television somewhere, because Iam addicted to it, and I want
everybody to know about it. Andso everybody I know now has
either played or is involved init, somehow it is just caught on
like wildfire. And so it's like,what is it that just people get
(22:20):
addicted. Well, immediately,think
Lauren Vosbein (22:22):
you're right, that there's curious, there's
healthy curiosity. For sure,someone says, I'm having so much
fun. Effectively, that's themessage. If it's not on the
nose, it's it's an underlyingvibe that they're giving off
when they talk about it. Sofirst off, that's the thing that
people are reacting to, andthat's the thing you and I think
are trying to really uncover andsort of keep at the forefront of
(22:45):
when we talk about this sport,right? Because for us, it is
really the lighthouse. Butthat's the first thing, I think,
people recognize that otherpeople are having so much fun,
and they want to have fun too.And on top of that, like I said
before, when they try and theygive it a shot, they can see
their own potential. It's like,Oh, love it, yeah, yeah, oh
(23:08):
yeah, okay, okay, you just hitit like that. Oh. And then I
can, oh, okay. It's just not ahard learning curve.
Casie Caldwell (23:15):
Yeah. There is a small barrier to entry. It's
something for everybody, allskill levels, all ages, all over
the place. So I do think you'reonto something there.
Lauren Vosbein (23:25):
It adds to the fun, the short learning curve,
right? Like, it's like, oh yeah,I can get there cool. I can play
cool. And that is exciting.That's energizing. Plus, I mean,
simultaneously, you are workingyour mind, your arms, your legs,
your core, your whole body isinvolved, and you're getting
(23:48):
that endorphin rush
Casie Caldwell (23:49):
well. And there was a study that just plenty,
I'm sure, that came out, aboutwhat it does for your mental
game, your mentality of justbeing out there in the hand eye
coordination, about how peoplethat are playing paddle sports
are living 10 years longer. Soit's pretty incredible. What,
physiologically,
Lauren Vosbein (24:06):
it's actually healthy for us as humans. So
Casie Caldwell (24:11):
what early. So
Lauren Vosbein (24:12):
we're gonna live a long time. We gonna live a
long time. We gonna be cheeringa long time.
Casie Caldwell (24:16):
Just means I'm gonna work longer.
Lauren Vosbein (24:20):
But truly, I think these are all elements
that are going into it, right?They're going into this factor.
And then the third thing we willtouch on, some more, and we've
touched on before, which is thiscommunity building element. You
know, this idea that the minuteyou realize your potential and
the desire blooms in you to wantto play more, you want to find
(24:41):
people to play with, and it's awhole lot of meeting new people,
building a pickleball Rolodex,tapping into that Rolodex,
constantly having texts and textchains and calls, and setting up
games and showing up to meetpeople, and all of a sudden.
You're 789, pm at night, andyou're playing after work, and
(25:04):
the lights are on, you'refeeling like a kid again, or
678, in the morning, and thesun's just all
Casie Caldwell (25:10):
of a sudden, you're like, oh my gosh, I just
played pickleball. Yeah, you're
Lauren Vosbein (25:13):
starting your day off with a game. And there's
a connectedness
Casie Caldwell (25:16):
that I don't think a lot of people find easy
later in life, especially, I
Lauren Vosbein (25:24):
mean, I know the sport socially, socially, yeah,
Casie Caldwell (25:26):
so a lot of people talk about how, and I
think it's true, like harder tomake friends later in life,
because everybody's Twitter,they got their people, right.
But pickleball opens that sowide, open wide. And so that's
pretty special, because it ishard. It's like people getting
their clicks. But pickleballsort of breaks those barriers,
(25:46):
or at least
Lauren Vosbein (25:47):
it does, because you're right. We talked about
sports being the greatneutralizer. It's a sport. So
all of a sudden you're meetingpeople from all walks of life.
They're just showing up to playthis game, right, to play this
sport. And how you show up onthe court might be very
different or similar to how youshow up off the court, but you
get that equalizing playingfield Absolutely.
Casie Caldwell (26:10):
And I think that's true to or I think you,
you just touched on somethingthat I think is important to
talk about, like, what do wewant to accomplish with this
podcast and why? Why you shouldlisten. Listener,
Lauren Vosbein (26:22):
are you there? Audience, of wonder if you're
Casie Caldwell (26:24):
still listening. We're really excited.
Lauren Vosbein (26:26):
My mom's listening. It's just the one.
Casie Caldwell (26:28):
My mom will be listening. Okay, there's two.
There's two. Yeah, we got two.Maybe Dad, your dad will listen.
Yeah, there's four.
Lauren Vosbein (26:38):
No. But to come back at it, the notion that why
we want to talk about this gameis because so much of life ends
up on the court. It doesn'tactually separate too much, and
we've met some amazingcharacters who have incredible
lives off the court that we getexposure to because of
(27:02):
pickleball. Pickleball hasbecome a bit of a conduit for
building community and buildingfriendships and fostering
connection in ways that weresurprising, that were incredibly
profound. Casie and I are on ateam that plays in a league here
(27:22):
in Dallas, Texas, TCD
Casie Caldwell (27:25):
tennis competitors of Dallas. Soon to
be there's a division comingcalled PCD pickleball
competitors of Dallas.
Lauren Vosbein (27:32):
So we actually have this camaraderie that's
built with a team and a sport,and we've just befriended some
incredible players, someincredible humans, and so all of
those things kind of add to whywe find it important and fun and
entertaining, even to talk aboutthis game and to talk about the
(27:55):
stuff that really drives itright the gas in the tank well,
and
Casie Caldwell (27:59):
I think The nuances that come out on the
court as recreational players.Yeah. I mean, we are not going
to talk so much about tips andtricks and equipment and who's
governing the sport. There's alot of content out there about
that, and it's good content, andso we're not trying to compete
with that. We want to talk aboutwhat you said earlier, what's
(28:20):
under the hood and what makes usall sort of tick on and off the
court when it comes to thesport, yeah,
Lauren Vosbein (28:28):
the sort of juice to the coconut, if you
will, the, you know, thepickleball walk of shame, the
fifth man on the court, the
Casie Caldwell (28:38):
idiosyncrasies that show up. Sometimes it's
like, what you know, do we findthat, even as recreational
players, what are we bringingthat day? Yes, like, what's
that? You talk a lot aboutenergy that's happening when
you're in a competitive match,and how you shake some of the
mental blocks that we have whenwe're in a competitive match. So
(28:59):
how you do that, I think isreally interesting as rec
players, because it shows upeven though we're not pros,
right? It's there still, yeah,
Lauren Vosbein (29:09):
and at the end of the day, guys, it's how to
maintain your fun, right? How toinject play into your lives, how
to rediscover play in yourlives, how this
Casie Caldwell (29:21):
of us. That's why we're doing this. It's a fun
first mentality,
Lauren Vosbein (29:24):
how this sport can be a conduit for that, if
you let it right. So keepingthat as our sort of North Star
while we talk about this gameand all the fun life that sort
of operates on and off thecourt. So prepare. We will be
drinking as we talk. We'll beclinking. You might hear a few
(29:47):
curse words here and there. Youmight hear some sorry mom. You
might hear the UPS, downs,lefts, rights. There's no sort
of politically correct on this.Pod, we are just here to talk
about the raw life behind thesport, and we hope you'll be
along for the ride. So whereveryou are, squeeze a lime, pop in
(30:10):
an olive and show up, and let'sjust do some clinking and
Dinkin.
Casie Caldwell (30:16):
I think that's a wrap for our first episode of
Dinks on Tap.
Lauren Vosbein (30:19):
Thanks for joining guys. Cheers. Y'all hope
to see you soon. Cheers, andthat's a wrap on this episode of
Dinks on Tap.
Casie Caldwell (30:28):
Thanks for listening, and if you like the
pod, leave us a review and shareit with your favorite dinking
buddy.
Lauren Vosbein (30:33):
After all, Pickleball is more fun with
friends, both on and off thecourt.
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